


Evolution of Involvement (The Millenium Earl's Labryinth)

by DarkAlchemistNinja, Kinoink



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Consentual Sex, Death, Demons, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Sex, Yaoi, tags added as needed, volence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-05-17 16:30:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5877769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkAlchemistNinja/pseuds/DarkAlchemistNinja, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kinoink/pseuds/Kinoink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new Exorcist is found, but that's nothing new. The Noah Clan is still out to get them, and they need all the help they can get. <br/>Kanda discovers he has been staring at someone for a long time that has been harboring strong feelings for him. Will he give him a chance?</p><p>Will the Millenium Earl succeed in finally destroying Allen Walker by luring him and the others to the famed Labyrinth of Rome?</p><p>Find out that and more when Lavi decides to get more involved with his friends than Bookman could ever have imagined. </p><p> please don't discount this due to the OC involvement. It's a fantastic story and i hope you give it a chance. <3</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Innocence, Activate! A new Exorcist Is Found!

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys! i've got a lot of material on this so hopefully i'll be updating it regularly. <3 hope you enjoy! 
> 
> (apologies in advance if i'm wrong on anything, still new to the fandom eheh)

The thunderheads that had been hovering overhead and threatened rain, had delivered indeed. Rain poured and formed thin puddles on the brick streets, anyone who was outside was seeking shelter. Groaning softly a platinum blonde was walking the streets, rubbing her forehead, a little bit with a pounding headache and even though the rain was providing a small feeling that was soothing it still didn't help the oddly feverish pain. 

Late nights staying up and staring at books, weird dreams had also kept her up which was the cause of the weakness and headache. "Ugh...shit..." she stopped and pressed a hand over an eye as a dizzy spell made the world feel like it was shifting under her feet. A cold feeling, one that made her feel like she was being watched was prickling at the back of her neck and it was uncomfortable.

a redhead was watching her, but he wasn't the only one. He slowly sidled up to her, his hands in his pockets. "Hi there." he said softly. A silver badge glinted in the moonlight. "don't be scared, don't look around... but you're being followed by something rather ugly." he commented. "Let me walk with you. I can protect you. I'd prefer to lose the thing rather than fight right now." 

The dizzy spell slowly wore off, though her head would still ache and hurt beyond all reason. But it didn't harm her hearing as she took one curious side-glance at the redhead. She didn't say anything, people were strange, so for now she let it go where it needed to. She could hear cats yowling, in fear possibly and taking off into alley ways at a fast speed it knocked trash over. The headache seemed to dull a little, but she stopped when she felt another dizzy spell for a moment. "Who are you....exactly...?"

"I'm an exorcist. my name is Lavii... you're being hunted by a demon, most likely level two or higher.... it's probably why you've got such a blinding headache." he said quietly. He reached out a hand to support her as she stumbled. "we need to get out of the city. I'd rather not get into trouble again for destroying too much property." he started gently steering her along, towards the edge of the city and the forest. 

She took a breath before she allowed him to steer her away, for the moment she was too exhausted to really say no. Though she had a funny feeling that he was okay to trust, for now. Though the skin prickling sensation of being followed didn't cease for another few blocks. On and off her headache would come and go, and it seemed to end when they got more to the outskirts of the city, a tree lined area that were still rich and green despite the dark clouds overhead threatening more torrential rain. Taking a few breaths she leaned on a tree lightly. "Mn...weird...."

He made sure she was protected before whirling upon an approaching figure. A child, to all appearances. "Oh stop it. Allen identified you three hours ago." The figure shifted, changed... grew. It was ugly. "oh there's yer ugly mug." he said calmly, reaching into his pocket. "Innocence... Activate." What appeared to be a simple hammer grew and began to glow slightly. "stay out of the way, pretty lady." he cautioned the girl he'd assisted. 

Green eyes had gone as wide as saucers, shocked to see that odd little child she hadn't even bothered to look at, or see. She knew she was followed by...that thing...? The headache seemed to stop and only be replaced with a confused ringing in her ears as she sat down to the damp grass. The demon let out a hair raising, ear splitting shriek both loud and high, teeming with a deep undertone.

 

Lavii positioned himself in between the demon and the blonde girl. He aimed the hammer at the demon. it dodged and laughed at him. "shit it's a level 2" he muttered. "Allen where the hell are you?" The demon spat fire at him. He blocked it with a swing of his hammer. "Innocence, Level 4! Water!" a dousing tsunami hit the demon and it began to sputter a bit. 

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and a silver claw seemed to be growing out of the demon's middle. It tore the thing in half and the soul flew up and vanished. Allen grew visible as the demon's explosion faded and he walked through the smoke. "Lavii... you alright?" said a rather adorable voice with a concerned tone. 

Lavii put away his weapon and nodded. "yah... we're fine." he said back as Allen appeared.

He was pulling his white glove back on his left hand. He gazed past Lavii to the blonde. "good thing you found her." he said with a smile. "I destroyed a couple of level 1's on the way.. sorry i was late." he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand sheepishly.

"no problem." commented Lavii. He turned to the blonde girl. "you ok?" 

She reached up and rubbed a hand across her face for a moment, aside from the rain that had fallen from the leaves on the trees, she was also sweating cold drips like a fever that had been just broken. She pinched the bridge of her nose slightly, and it was as if her headache had gone away and that weird heavy feeling that would make her shoulders weigh down was ebbing away. Taking in a deep breath she nodded. "Aside from the two crazy nutjobs hanging around, I'm good." she muttered, her throat was dry too, even if she hadn't screamed. It was just from misuse.

Lavii chuckled. Allen gave him a dirty look. "let me guess, you just walked up to her and didn't explain anything." he said, going over to her, reaching into a small bag and pulling out a bottle of water. "here, you look thirsty." he said kindly. "my name is Allen Walker." he smiled at her. 

"Oi, i tried to explain." Lavii complained, leaning against a tree. "the damn demon got here before i could get into a deep conversation." He scowled a bit. "I suppose it wouldn't have been so easy for you to one-shot it if it wasn't distracted by me, so you're welcome."

Allen rolled his eyes. "ignore him." he said to her. "He's honestly just here to find women." He ignored the indignant squeak that came from the redhead and held out a hand. "so what's your name?" he asked her. 

Reaching over to take the bottle she took off the top and took several drinks from it before wiping at her lips. Now feeling a bit more hydrated she felt a bit more like talking. "The name's Angelique." she nodded at him and looked between the two of them.for a split second, reaching over to grasp Allen's hand lightly. "Sorry if this was some kind of strange inconvenience to you?" she more wondered. "Let me rephrase...just what was that?"

Allen shook his head at the first comment. "well met, Angelique." he said softly. "as for inconvenience? not at all. It's our job to deal with those things." he smiled. "what you just saw was a level two demon. Demons are the weapons of destruction used by the Millennium Earl." he explained.

Lavii cut in. "no need to go in depth." he muttered warningly. 

Allen shot him a LOOK. "she's a Host you idiot." he retorted. 

Lavii blinked. "Don't tell me that eye of yours can see that now..." 

"no... but why the hell else would a level two and five level one's be in the area following her?" he pointed out.

Lavii raised a finger and opened his mouth, but had no real retort. 

Allen turned back to her. "Pray tell, have strange things been happening to you or around you when you get emotional lately?" he asked her. 

She sighed and rest a hand over her mouth as she thought about it, lightly pinching her skin, closing her eyes as she thought about it. "...I'm very prone to anxiety...and usually when that happens I have bad cases of insomnia..." she muttered a little bit then glanced over at him. "But if I get really, really frustrated or angry, something has a tendency to...break? But afterwards I'm feeling drowsy, drained, and with a headache...it's almost like having a cold but a lot worse."

Allen looked to Lavii. "sounds like it's not completely active yet." said the redhead. 

"yeah." responded Allen. "Sounds sorta like telekinesis." 

"innocence appears in just about any way it can." said Lavii. 

"yeah... I've kinda figured that out." he flexed his left hand. He looked at Angelique. "Say, uh.. do you live around here? we should really have this conversation in private before any more demons show up." he said with a soft blush. "this is gonna be a long story and explanation and i doubt any of us want to do it in the rain." 

Angelique looked highly confused before she got up carefully, her legs had stopped shaking. "Yeah, I live around here." she nodded a little before gesturing. "Come on, it's this way." she told them as she led them back into the town. It was an old fashioned one where all the buildings could all look the same with a few exceptions of different kinds of small personal touches. The clouds were still rain laden but none had yet to start falling. There was a distant rumble of thunder but then she came to a door, unlocking it. This house was small and quaint, with a wrought iron fence holding beautiful, full bloom roses of red and white...a few of the bushes even had some pink growing. "This is my place...kind of easy to spot."

Allen walked in and looked around. "its nice." he said with a cheerful smile. 

Lavii walked in and went immediately to sit on a chair. "thanks." he said with relief. He glanced to Allen and made a sort of 'after you' gesture. 

Allen looked at her. "We should get a bit comfortable.. like i said this is gonna take a while." 

"-assuming we have a while." interjected Lavii, garnering an annoyed look from Allen. 

"do you mind if i take off my jacket?" Allen asked, tilting his head.

Angelique nodded her head as she pointed to a small coat rack that was sitting in the hall and went to the living room. "Sorry about the mess." she spoke as she went over and picked up a few stacks of books from the couch. "Corporal get down from there;" she told a sleek black feline who had been lying on its belly on a pile of books. The cat opened one eye then yawned, turning over and showed its back to her. "Geez..." she settled the books to a pile and removed the stacks of papers from the coffee table. "Would you like tea or something...?"

Allen shook his head. "it's ok." he said with a smile. "if you don't mind, tea would be lovely... chasing off the chill and all." he took off his jacket. Under it he wore black pants, a white shirt, a black vest and a red ribbon tie streaked with black. He hung the jacket by the door. He found a place to sit and sighed, leaning back. "So we're Exorcists from the Black Order." he said to start them off. "We go around destroying the Earl's demons and trying to collect what's called Innocence. We Exorcists are also Hosts for the Innocence." he explained. 

"We each have a talent; a specific 'Anti-Demon weapon' we can use to fight them. Lavii's is that hammer. Mine is my left arm." he pulled off the glove to reveal his blackened left hand. "mine's called a 'parasitic' weapon. It grows and shifts based on my feelings and stuff." He shrugged. 

"The Millennium Earl is a being out to destroy the Innocence. He creates Demons to act as weapons against the Order and to assist him in locating Innocence fragments and Hosts. From the amount of Demons around here, and the fact that they're focused on you... there's a high likelihood that you could be a Host." 

She busied herself in the small kitchen across the hall, but she listened to the words he said while she waited on the tea to come to a boil. "So..." she moved over since it was going to be a while before the kettle would whistle and let them know it was ready for tea leaves. She took a small spot in a desk chair that looked just as work laden as the rest of the living room. "What exactly is a Host you keep mentioning, and why do you think I'm part of this...er...group, you're talking about."

"what Allen is trying to say is you could be one of us." Lavii said. "you could be able to use Innocence as a weapon. To be an Exorcist. Essentially he's asking if you want to join us. Come to the Dark Order building with us and get tested. A Host is someone who has Innocence inside them. Allen. Show her." 

Allen nodded. "Innocence, Activate." he said quietly. His arm shifted from black to brilliant silver, turning into a claw with fire around where it connected to his shoulder. "I was born with this. And with my cursed left eye i can see demons before they notice me, or when they think they're hidden." he said calmly. 

She opened her mouth slightly then closed it again, it was obvious there was some sign that gears were clicking in her head perhaps double time and she moved back slightly. "Okay, I'm absorbing the demon talk and this...Innocence thing, but if I'm honest you've got the wrong girl." she told the both of them. "Seriously, I'm just the most plain, shut in, insomniac who apparently gets stalked by demons!" her voice raised an octave by mistake and the vase sitting on the desk shattered, splashing water and red roses onto the floor and staining a few book pages.

Lavii jumped slightly and raised an eyebrow. "oh we do, do we?" he asked, pointing at the remnants of the flower vase. 

Allen held a hand up to shut the redhead up. "I understand it can be hard to come to terms with." he said calmly, deactivating his own power. He grabbed a teacup. "I'll make you a deal. Focus on this cup." he said, setting it on the table. "try and lift it. Flex your mind. If you can do something to it without touching it, you come with us. If you can't do a thing, not even a shake or anything. We'll leave right now."

Lavii opened his mouth, Allen shook his head slightly. If she couldn't do it now, they wouldn't leave the city, but they'd leave her house and protect her till she figured out how to work it. He didn't intend on leaving her defenseless. 

She sighed and took a seat back on the desk chair for a moment, pulling up a knee to her chest as she glanced at Allen like he grew a second head, but then again, the parasitically cursed arm could work just the same. She pushed her bangs out of her eyes as she looked at the cup he set on the table for a long moment, at first she felt frustrated and was about to throw it in, but some other strange part of her mind was calm, a weird serene feeling, taking a breath she reached out a hand, dazed, almost like a sleep walking sort of way. Her subconscious was acting of its own accord. At first the cup clinked as it rattled against the saucer, and a moment after it rose off the small plate, wobbly, but it was a good foot off from its original position.

Allen remained silent, completely still... not wanting to ruin her focus. 

Lavii was mesmerized. -well that's a new one- he thought to himself. -psionic Innocence.- He also didn't' feel like breaking the spell. 

the only sound was Timcampy's tiny wings fluttering and the steady, even breathing from the three of them. The clock chimed the hour. 10 PM. It shattered the silence with it's loud bonging noises. Allen jumped despite himself and Lavii jerked a bit. "shit." he muttered. -idiot... it's just the clock.. Allen would alert us if there were demons near. i gotta relax.- 

The loud bong from the clock even made the blonde jump and the cup went flying startling the black cat that had been using the pile of books as a perch with a loud and very pissed off yowl in the kitchen and the delicate piece of dishware shattered into pieces. "Ah, crap..." Angelique got up and went over to the spot where the cup hit and sighed plucking up a few shards. Then she paused slightly when she found an old letter pressed between two of them, pulling it out curiously. "Huh...I forgot this was here..."

Allen let out some nervous laughter as Lavii jumped up swearing when the cat landed on his head in it's frantic darting about to escape the kitchen. The cat vanished into the bedroom with a final hiss as Allen leaned on his chair, helplessly laughing at the way Lavii's hair was now sticking up. Lavi adjusted his headband and glared at him, then shook his head and had to chuckle. The tension that had been in the room vanished. Allen recovered and glanced to Angelique. "eh? What's that?" he asked curiously. 

She flipped the worn envelope over. "An old letter from my guardian before he passed." she muttered softly, the seal on it hadn't been broken...it would seem she had never even touched it. "I got buried in research and school when I turned 16...and maybe I was so stricken with grief I didn't bother to go through his old belongings aside from his books and research papers." she was speaking more to herself as she reached and broke the seal of the letter, pulling out a letter. Something came and fell out with a soft clink at her feet with a few patters...it looked like seeds. Unfolding the letter she began to read through it curiously.

Allen noticed the teakettle begin to whistle and stood up, going over to take care of it and begin brewing the tea while she read it. Lavii shifted and leaned back, interlacing his fingers behind his head and closing his eyes. The smell of tea began to permeate the room as Allen let the tea brew for a bit as he leaned against the counter, keeping an eye on it. "what's it say?" He asked at last. "if it's not too personal, that is." 

She frowned slightly as she blinked, pulling off a dried rose petal from the bottom corner, playing it with her fingers. It seemed to be an odd shade of blue and white. She leaned against one of the book stacks. 

_"Dearest Angelique,_  
_If you have received this, then I have passed on to the arms of our loving God. Understand this, I do not leave this world without a belief that you are destined for great things. The day God graced me with your presence I knew that you were going to grow up to do great things. It's with a heavy heart I had to leave such a precious and intelligent young lady to fend for herself, but understand one thing...you are not truly alone. One day, your destiny will come, and on that day and forward, you will become a great protector._  
_With Sincerest Love,_  
_Reverend Coultis."_

she recited then looked down to pick up the seeds that had fallen to the floor, "Rose seeds..." she muttered softly and picked up the larger object that fell out and picked it up. It was a hair pin with a crystalline full bloomed blossom with leaves, very lightweight. "Hm..."

Allen blinked, then tended the tea. Lavii opened his one good eye with the small 'clink' noise and gazed at the item. "interesting." he said as Allen set three teacups on the table one at a time and had somehow managed to find the sugar bowl and set that there as well. "well that's interesting." he commented. He pretended not to notice the hair pin. "So then. Since you could do it, you'll come with us, right?" he said as he poured a lot more sugar than was probably necessary into his teacup. 

Lavii flinched. "jeeze..." he muttered as he sipped at the tea plain. 

Angelique placed the pin into her pocket and settled on the floor by the table, picking up her cup and blew across the surface as she took a sip. "Alright." she spoke after a beat of silence and looked at them. "I'll go with you, but don't expect too much out of me." she paused slightly and looked at the two of them sighing. "And promise me you won't be disappointed if I'm not what you think I really am." she gave a small and rather sincere smile. Maybe she was really sweet.

Allen chuckled. "we promise." he said calmly. "we should be alright till morning. If we get attacked tonight me and Lavii will handle it. We'll set out in the AM. I'll take first watch. Did you want to talk about anything?" he asked as he sipped at his highly-sugared tea. 

Lavii sipped at his tea again and eyed Allen. "well if you're going to take first watch... i'm going to get a head start on my nap." he said. "if the lady will excuse me." he stood up and went to flop on the couch. Allen shook his head and stifled a snort. 

Angelique shook her head and set her half drunk cup of tea in the sink, pouring out the contents. "I'm fine tonight." she murmured as she went up the stairs to go pick up her probably still peeved off cat. With a sigh she flopped onto her bed, reaching into her pocket to look at the hair pin for a moment then to the ceiling, a window just above her bed revealed a night sky filled with stars. "I wonder what they see in me..." she sighed and still clutching the pin in her hand like a lifeline she closed her eyes slowly, headache gone and body just exhausted she didn't bother changing out and she started to doze off.


	2. Komui's Infernal Robots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angelique arrives safely at the Order; however getting inside is, as usual, more dangerous than getting to the place. Lavi makes a bet that may be more than just a casual tease. Only time will tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's a tad short... eehh

By the next morning as the sun was starting to come up, Angelique packed up a case of essential clothing and other items, she had placed the rose seeds in an envelope and sealed it securely. Picking up Corporal, the black cat she placed him on her shoulder and started downstairs, only taking one glance back at the large stack of books she had poured over during the years then sighed looking ahead as she closed and locked the door behind her. Next thing she knew she was jostled awake and staring out at the rushing train scenery that was just coming to a slow stop at a station while her cat slept in her lap.

Allen glanced over to her as she woke. He elbowed Lavi. "this is our stop." he murmured softly. Lavi moaned and shifted. He opened his good eye and glanced to them. "welp. Time to find our boat." he said as he stretched out a bit. 

They disembarked the train and Lavi flagged down a boat to get them to the Black Order. In short order they found themselves standing in front of the gates. 

"Hello! Lenalee! Komui! We're back and we brought a friend!" called Allen cheerfully as the guardian eyed Angelique critically. "ten bucks says it raises an alarm for some reason." muttered Allen. 

"make it fifty and I'll get Kanda to sleep with me." retorted Lavi. 

"deal." said Allen wickedly. 

Sure enough before they knew it the alarms were blaring loudly. 

The blonde groaned as she covered her ears, not only was the thing loud, but it gave her a scare that made her hair stand on end. It wasn't until it started screaming error about something or other that it made Corporal hiss and scatter. "Ah, Corporal...!" she called after the cat but he had already gone off. 

There was suddenly a loud explosion nearby and she turned and screamed right at the top of her lungs when she saw the barrel of a rather intimidating gun from a massive robotic structure.

"Oh for the love of..." Lenalee sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose while she watched this all occur. "Hang on I'll go handle it." she muttered, sometimes her brother grated on her every last nerve-ending. 

"What do you think this time Allen, isn't he just a beauty?!" a male spoke enthusiastically from the top of the robot.

Allen sighed. "Komui... do you never learn?" he asked finally. "It's just me and Lavi, we brought a new recruit." 

Lavi shook his head. "oh he learns all-right. Learns how to make these pieces of crap more annoying." he said. "Angelique, go find your cat. We have an idiot to take care of." he grabbed his hammer as Allen's arm began to glow. 

"Komui I swear to all that is holy you need mental help." Allen muttered. He morphed his arm into a gun and pointed it at the current incarnation of Komurin's head where it met his neck. "Komui stand down or your precious baby is gonna die.... again." he said loudly. 

"Well it's just this time I sort of rigged the latest with reacting to the alarm!" Komui called from up top. "You can't destroy it again it's not its fault that Komurin's just doing as I programmed! Besides...where is the new recruit anyh-OW!" he yelped when a foot came slamming down on his head. 

"You just never learn do you brother?" Lenalee sighed and raised a hand to Allen and Lavi. "Just a second and you two can have free range!" she called. 

"Wait, Lenalee, what do you..." without a second warning Komui was kicked right from his robot who was now seeing red and preparing to fire off whatever weapon it had this time, though the girl's foot came round and gave it a swift kick to the mechanical face before she touched to the ground, letting the boys have at it. This was obviously becoming too routine.

Allen let loose a shot at the same time Lavi smashed it's head in and the thing shuddered and collapsed. Allen sighed and shook his head as Lavi put his hammer away and rolled his shoulder. Lavi looked around, past Lenalee. 

"Now where is that blue-haired bastard... I have a bet to win." he said as the doors opened and he wandered inside. 

Allen giggled silently as he smiled at Lenalee. "thanks..." he said with a smile. "You'd best gather your brother. The doors will shut soon." 

he saw a black streak that was Corporal run by him and into the building. "well that takes care of that..." Allen muttered. "Angelique! He went this way!" he called to their new arrival. 

Angelique blinked and she gave chase after her feline friend, she took a jump and rolled grabbing the black streak by the middle. "You startle to easy Corporal...ow! Ow!" she yelped when her cat started to scratch at her even though he wiggled fruitlessly. "I didn't do anything wrong, don't blame me!" she huffed. Now she wasn't only slightly covered in dirt, now she had cat scratches on her arms. 

Lenalee walked over and nodded to Allen, picking up her brother by the scruff of his neck. "No problem, sorry he caused trouble for a new arrival again." she paused and looked at Angelique curiously. "Another girl? Did Lavi pick her up first?" she teased gently.

"He met her first, but at the time she was being stalked and i was busy trying to make sure all the level one's were taken care of so i can't tell you yes or no." he said with a chuckle as he followed. "Though when i bet him that the alarm would go off he upped the bet and said if he could get Kanda into bed with him it'd be fifty." he shrugged. "i'm not entirely sure what the hell Lavi's motives with that one are." He walked with them. "in any case. Lenalee, this is Angelique. Angelique, this is Lenalee." he said, clearing his throat and getting to introductions at last. 

Lavi wandered back. "jeeze you guys are slow." he said, feigning irritation. "hey Lenalee? have you seen Kanda around?" 

Lenalee bowed politely. "It's nice to meet you." the girl smiled at Angelique while she balanced a still peeved cat in her arms and a suitcase in her hand. 

"Nice to meet you too...I think..." she looked at Allen. "Is it always this crazy? If it is...I'm going to think I walked into a crazy asylum." 

Lenalee laughed slightly then sighed. "My brother is the craziest honestly, but he means well...usually." she turned to Lavi. "He got sent out on a mission a few days ago. He should be back by dinner." she confirmed, "That's what his last report was."

Lavi grinned and pranced off into the darkness. "alrighty then. see ya at dinner, Allen!" he said with a laugh. 

Allen rolled his eyes. "yeah it only gets nuts around here when Komui is trying out new inventions." he said. "mostly just those annoying robots." he smiled at Angelique. "let me show you to your room." he said with a smile. "you can get Corporal settled and clean up a bit. Then we can head to dinner and after that you'll meet with Komui for an assessment." he looked to Lenalee. "sound good?" 

"Sure, it'll give him time to wake up." she smiled, though there was something coldly devilish about it as she walked away dragging her brother behind her who had a lump growing from where he'd been kicked. 

"Scary..." Angelique mumbled before looking down at herself. "Oh, I...see...I think I'd probably look better presentable shouldn't I?" she joked softly and sighed carrying Corporal in her arms while the cool grey eyes were watching some of the Golems flutter around. "Are you sure it's even proper for me to have a room? I mean I'm not fully brought in yet and all. I don't even know if what I can do was a fluke or something." she spoke with Allen as they crossed the hallways. Curiously she sniffed the air as they passed the cafeteria. "Mm...they must have a really good cook."

"oh yeah he's really great." Allen said enthusiastically after watching Lenalee's puzzling departure. "don't worry about it. We'll find you a place even if it's not at exorcist level." he said with a bright smile. "you still need a place to sleep regardless." He paused at the huge dormitory tower that had that head-rush drop in the center of it. Timcampy beeped at him slightly and spat out a small piece of paper. "ah. your room number." he said as he grabbed it when it fluttered down. "follow me, we'll get you settled." 

"So what is this thing by the way?" she asked curiously as she held out a hand slightly as Timcampy fluttered around them for a moment and settled on the top of her hand. "I thought I saw some black ones fluttering around, but what are they? Some form of bat?" she asked as they got close to her room number. She was definitely curious, perhaps it was because of the way she was constantly thinking or studying that questions came out like water when finding out about new things.

"Golems. Recorders... they document demons we Exorcists encounter and log them, they also connect to phone lines so we can communicate with headquarters through secure lines." he explained. "Timcampy was a gift from my former Master. one of the best Exorcists out there." he said with a nod. He stopped at her door. "here you are. There's a bathroom and a shower and a bed... it's pretty comfortable. there's probably a book case or something too." he smiled at her. "I'll come get you when it's time for dinner." he said with a nod as he fluttered off to his own room to clean up a bit.

The blonde had set her cat down on the bed and had gotten to use the bathroom when Allen left. The hot shower felt great and relieved her of the blood that had started drying on her skin. After washing and drying her hair, putting it up into a ponytail she had changed into a pair of simple black pants with a teal sweater. 

She had settled to nap for a little while until dinner came, she picked up the pin, placing it in her hair as she had gone to the cafeteria with Allen's escort. The smells were making her stomach growl and mouth water, and the sound of chatter filling the room felt comforting, reaching over she opened the door curiously as the light filtered in.


	3. Hell's New Frozen Pond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lavi makes his move due to the bet he made with Allen, Komui begins testing Angelique's powers.

Allen smiled at her as they entered the cafeteria. It was noisy and full of Watchers and Crew and a smattering of Exorcists who weren't out. Lavi was, for the moment, not there. Allen guided her to the chef and spouted off about fifty things for him to eat before introducing Angelique. 

"Just tell him whatever you want. The food will come to us when he's done cooking it." he said cheerfully as he went to sit down. He glanced around for Kanda, glimpsing the blue ponytail he figured it was only a matter of time before Lavi appeared. 

Kanda had indeed been eating dinner after the long mission, his usual soba noodles. He usually sat mostly on his own as usual. 

Angelique thought about it for a moment as she tapped her cheek. "I think I'm going to have a garden salad with fried chicken, potatoes, and a small dish of fruit. And a strawberry shortcake slice for dessert...?" her voice came out slightly timid, but that's because Allen had listed a ground breaking 50 things. "Are you sure you could eat all that...?" she asked softly. 

Allen smiled at her. "Yeah.. ehe... my anti-demon weapon is parasitic... it gives me a ... healthy... appetite." he said sheepishly. 

He glanced over to where Kanda was sitting and spotted Lavi walking up to him. The redhead winked at him as he plopped down next to Kanda and put his arm around him. "Hey there, Yu. Mission go alright?" he asked cheerfully. 

Allen rolled his eyes. Either Lavi was reallllly good at hitting on people, or he had a death wish. Either way he figured the show would be interesting. 

The blonde made a face slightly at the whole parasitic thing, really it was something she wasn't used to. Hopefully she would in time and then followed his gaze to the table where the man with blue hair and a ponytail had been feasting up until Lavi came to settle down by him. 

"I told you not to call me that." the older man spoke with a bit of a bite as sharp as a samurai blade. Reaching over with his free hand he smacked Lavi's arm off of him. "Hasn't the Bookman taught you about personal space?"

Lavi was not deterred. "oh come on, Kanda." he said with good humor. "you know damn well you like my bullshit." he flashed a disarming smile. "after all, I'm fucking adorable." Honestly he'd been eyeing Kanda for months now, slowly realizing he had feelings for him. He'd never had feelings for a guy before so at first it'd confused the hell outta him. But hey... he could roll with it. 

Allen snorted and returned his attention to Angelique. "that's Kanda... he's kinda grumpy. I dont' get along with him too well.. then again no one really does. He tends to keep to himself. Lavi is the only one besides Komui that can get away with touching him without having their arm sliced off." The food arrived then and Allen began shoving it in his face with haste; it almost seemed like he went somewhere else while he ate. 

Kanda looked at him then he looked away and went back to slurping down the noodles. "I'm assuming Komui did something stupid again. Regarding his state during a report." he spoke with a monotone calmness to Lavi, after he chewed and swallowed the bite of his meal. "Him and his damn robot left tracks outside the front gate."

Angelique looked at the meal in front of Allen for a moment as she picked up a fork of salad and started to eat slowly. "It's like you have a black hole for a stomach." she muttered as she tasted the salad, sure it was supposed to be watery leaves, but a the same time, there was a tang to it, blinking, the chef was nice enough to top it with a type of dressing. "Mm...delicious..."

"oh yeah. Lenalee, Allen and I took care of that nonsense.... again." he shook his head. "Anyway, Yu... Kanda..." he bit his lip. "I was wondering if you'd ... well... not be antisocial for a little while and do something with me tonight?" the fuck was he so nervous for? He was usually obnoxious, not hesitant. 

Allen finished his food quickly, blushing at Angeliques' comment and glanced over again. Was Lavi actually nervous? He was fascinated. "well... this could be interesting." he said calmly. 

Kanda seemed to glare at Lavi for a moment, then again his eyes had never changed much except for two facial expressions; shock and anger. Then he set his chopsticks down on top of his dish. "If your "do something" has to do with staring at naked photographs of women in magazines, my answer is no." from his knowledge Lavi was a womanizer and skirt chaser. "Besides, doesn't your Master usually babysit you at night?"

Angelique looked up curiously for a moment. "He does seem pretty rude...but...." she trailed off, the cafeteria was starting to have one of those moments where everything went quiet it was hard to speak.

"actually no." Lavi said softly, pink tinging his cheeks. "no to both of those things." He fidgeted. he was acting quite unlike himself, he realized. and it was starting to attract attention. "I.. I wanted to spend some time with you... like... a d-date." he blushed crimson as he found himself gripping his hands together so hard that his knuckles went white. Normally Kanda would be right... this went beyond the bet with Allen... he'd honestly just done that as an excuse to ask the bluenet out. 

The entire cafeteria was silent, waiting on Kanda's response; most of them expecting him to outright kick Lavi's ask for even thinking about asking him something like that. Allen however had figured out Lavi meant every word and was silently rooting for him. 

The silence stretched for a long moment that not even the clank of pans came from the kitchen in the back. Even Finders had gone silent, waiting, holding their breaths. The samurai was cold as the steel of his blade. Kanda took one look at Lavi, holding for a moment, maybe two. Then he got up from the sat, walking his way out of the dining hall. 

That was when the soft mutterings started. "Is Lavi gonna go after him?" Angelique inquired softly to Allen. 

Lavi blinked and the tension in the room disappated as the muttering began. 

Allen motioned his head to Lavi. -go after him!- 

Lavi did just that, jumping up and following him. "Kanda..." he said once he'd caught up and they were in the hall. "Kanda stop!" 

Allen Sighed and turned to Angelique. "Lavi won't give up too easily." he said with a nod. "But he usually ends up getting what or who he wants if he actually means it. Pretty sure he used our bet as an excuse to get to Kanda without outright coming out of the proverbial closet. In any case, you should finish eating. Komui will be wanting to see you soon." he smiled at her. 

For once the exorcist did stop. "What do you want?" he questioned with the usual bite in his tone not daring once to look back at Lavi. "What are you so desperate for that you would have any gall to ask someone like me out?" Kanda questioned still not glancing at the Bookman's lineage behind him.

The blonde nodded as she went back to munching on her salad before starting on the main course of fried chicken, a baked potato and some fruit. Nudging the slice of cake over to Allen. "Here, for saving me back at home."

Allen blinked and looked to the cake. "That was sweet of you." he said with a soft blush. "thanks." he took a bite of it. "you didn't have to do that." 

Lavi sighed. "is it that you view yourself as so unlovable that you're having trouble believing someone could like you? or do you just like pretending you behave like a jackass to keep people at a distance so they don't even try?" he asked in return, his voice shaking. "Kanda... You're fucking attractive, but I've thought beyond that. You're true to yourself, honorable and your sense of duty can be damn annoying... but I know you actually give a damn about people deep down. I'm sick of one-night-stands. I'm sick of pretty faces that have nothing behind them... empty eyes. I'm drawn to you and I don't know why but god dammit if I'm gonna ignore my feelings. Say no if you want but I thought you should know..." he seemed to deflate from his passionate speech and turned to walk away to his room. 

A hand reached over and turned the redhead's head behind him. "It's rude to turn your backs on someone before they have a chance to retort. Especially after that cheesy ass speech." he sighed and moved his hand away. "Look Bookman, if this "date" of yours doesn't consist of anything such as eyeing women the entire time, I'll give you one chance." it was a firm statement and his voice was still giving nothing away.

"It's okay, this food is so filling I don't think I'm going to be able to handle dessert." she smiled a little polishing off her last bit of fruit and potato, skin and all. "Mm. I'm stuffed..."

Lavi froze. Had he just said... yes? He turned around to face him. "I intend on giving you my undivided attention, Kanda." he said quietly, completely poleaxed. He had expected Kanda to laugh at him or just let him walk away. The last thing he'd expected was a 'yes'. Now he had to remember where the fuck he had intended on taking the bluenet since his brain had been so stunned it'd went on vacation for the moment. 

He finished the cake and smiled. He looked around for Lenalee. "We should probably wait for Lenalee to come get us. I hope Lavi is still alive after that performance." he was wondering how the fuck Kanda was reacting to him. 

"I'll give you a single chance. Understand?" he questioned and crossed his arms. "Depending on the result I'll give you an answer. Got it?" he seemed to glare down at Lavi for a long moment. "If all goes wrong I'll make sure you're sent to the infirmary for a good, long while. I'm sure Komui would enjoy doctoring you up." god the straight face it was hard to tell he was kidding or not.

By Allen's words to God's ears Lenalee had walked over carrying a clipboard in her arm and smiled at Angelique sweetly. "My brother is ready to see you now. Allen are you coming too?"

Lavi could do nothing but nod for a moment there. He finally found his voice. "No need for threats." he said, sounding almost injured as he began to snap out of it. "what would you like to do?" His voice was tentative. though he realized after a moment... that was a good damn question... the fuck DID Kanda do for fun? Did he know what fun was? did the guy EVER pull the stick out of his ass and relax?

Allen nodded "yeah, I figure between the two of us we could box Kumoi's ears in if he gets out of hand... besides i have a few things i want to say to him after that stunt he pulled earlier." he said with a sigh. 

Kanda looked him over for a second. "Well you sounded confident you were asking me out I figured you had an idea in mind." he sighed softly and looked at Lavi. "Town..." he spoke after a beat of silence, even he was feeling awkward with the other's eyes staring at him curiously, he was really trying to keep his face from giving anything away for now.

"I told the science team we need to try and fix the gate...it seems to see Akuma somewhere at anytime." she shook her head then gestured. "This way please." she smiled and started to lead Allen and the new young girl to where they were supposed to meet for the evening.

"I was... Then it occurred to me i have no idea what in the sam hill you like to do." he admitted sheepishly. "You're a damn enigma to all of us." Town... ok... do what in town... He figured Kanda was testing him. Seeing if he'd actually do what he said and ignore any attractive women they happened to come across. "well you already ate... how about dessert?" he offered. "maybe the coffee shop?" 

Allen nodded. "yeah... Maybe Kumoi should focus on fixing that before focusing on yet another infernal robot." he muttered as they walked. He gazed to Angelique. "Kumoi can be nice... but he's also a fucking idiot and a genius at the same time... still trying to figure that one out."

He eyed Lavi again then he let out a sigh. "Let me change first." he was still in his exorcist clothes and figured it would be better to change out first before going into town. "Coffee shop." he stated simply before starting down the hallway to get to his room to change out his clothes. It was better to be inconspicuous sometimes.

Soon they were brought into the room and Kumoi was waiting, still nursing an apparent lump on his head from his beloved sister's kick. "Ah, Allen! And our newest member Angelique. Well, not an official member yet, we still have to see what you can do. Allen, would you mind giving me your report in person?" he tried to sound business like, obviously trying to avoid the subject of earlier's incident.

Lavi nodded and loitered around; having already changed into something a bit less obvious and more comfortable, but of course still had his weapon on him. Never could be too cautious. he was still trying to figure out how the fuck he'd gotten Kanda to say yes. He half expected himself to wake up and find he'd been having a dream... or perhaps it was a nightmare... time would tell. 

Allen straightened and put on a bright smile. "Kumoi..." he said, his voice charming. He then whapped him upside the head so hard his hat went flying. "STOP MAKING THOSE STUPID ROBOTS OR I SWEAR YOU WILL BE THE ONE I BASH NEXT TIME!" 

He turned and moved back to stand at attention. "We arrived and located the Innocence, but a ton of level one's appeared and we had to split up. Lavi went to find the Host, Angelique here, and I took care of the level ones. By the time i reached them the level two had shown itself and Lavi and I took it down surprisingly fast due to the fact that Lavi had it distracted. Then we went to Angelique's place and had tea." His tone was so calm and cheerful after having exploded three seconds before that it was hard to believe he wasn't cracking up inside. 

It didn't take long for Kanda to change into a white shirt, simple pair of pants, and a black jacket. He walked over and looked at Lavi and tilted his head in a 'let's go' manner and started walking his way down to get the way down into town.

Angelique felt her eye twitch at the fact that Allen had gone from shouting, to a sweet pleasant tone in two seconds flat.

Komui composed himself and continued, watching Allen warily. "A-And what host does she take up? I mean powers, pardon me. Is she like Miss Miranda with a known power or does she need to be like a small handful and need to discover in the manner of trial by fire."

Lavi followed him, his eyes locked on that swaying ponytail before he caught up to walk beside him. "you know this sorta requires us to actually have a conversation, right?" he asked quietly. Fantastic. three seconds in and he already shoved his foot in his mouth. "... sorry." he added hastily. "I guess i'm in shock still that you said yes." 

Allen glanced to Angelique, then to Lenalee. "Honestly i have no idea. It seems to be Psionic. Why don't you ask her yourself. she's standing right here." He sounded exhasperated. 

Kanda looked back at Lavi for a moment. "I didn't actually say yes. I only accepted it with conditions, there's a difference." at least that's how Kanda's mind worked anyways, it's how he saw things. His way was different from everyone else's. "Maybe I should ask you why you wanted to do this. You didn't make a bet with Short Stack did you?"

Komui looked at Angelique who had been standing just a bit behind Allen for a little while, obviously a bit nervous. "Ah, Psionics..." he reached into a book pile and pulled one out to flip through it. "Usually that's a blanket term for several different branches such as telepathy, telekinesis, and pyrokinesis." he stated straight from the book before looking at the blonde girl. "Now, pray tell what do you have..." he started then Angelique seemed to be staring off into space again, a small, very faint glimmer came from the clip and suddenly papers started to flutter around by an unseen force of wind.

Lavi looked at him. "Why... " He chuckled. "If i'm going to be honest with you, then here goes. I started noticing my attraction to you a few months ago... several, actually." he shook his head. "I did in fact make a bet with Allen... but it was only so i'd actually get the nerve to ask you. the bet was made this afternoon, but my feelings have been there for some time now, so it's not just because of some bet that i asked you out." There it was. He hoped he wouldn't get crucified for it. 

Allen darted back to stand beside Lenalee and watched as Angelique pretty much turned Komui's office into a paper tornado. He smirked. "perhaps that hairpin is her source." he muttered to himself. 

He was silent for a long moment again before he exhaled quietly. "Least you have the guts to admit the truth." he told Lavi, and for once he meant it. Lavi could have been an utter dick and say it was all some kind of freak joke of a prank, couldn't he? He could've said that the date was all about the money? "There's a coffee shop I prefer." he stated to him.

"Yep, this is a form of telekinesis." Komui spoke as he looked relatively fascinated for a moment until something seemed the change. the office went from paper tornado and the flat papers suddenly curled and formed very sharp tips like spikes. 

"Uh-oh...." Lenalee muttered softly looking how a graceful situation was turning into something dangerous.

Lavi blinked. Ok now he was in the Twilight Zone or something because he'd been expecting to find steel at his jugular by this point. "Which one?" he asked, knowing there were a couple as he continued to follow him. He pinched himself to make sure as hell he wasn't dreaming or something.

Allen went over and gently shook Angelique, trying to snap her out of it. "oi. enough now." he said to her urgently, but not rudely. As much as he'd like to see Kumoi get his rear end handed too him, he didn't want the guy to die. 

"You can stop pinching yourself like an idiot to start with, this is the reality." he looked ahead as they entered the town limits, crossing different streets. The shops were bustling with people, more of the adult crowd since the children have long since gone to bed. He stopped outside what looked like an old fashioned coffee shop, the type with an exterior and interior that fit Kanda's personality and maybe even livelihood.

She twitched slightly and groaned, holding her head, a ringing started to form in her ears she could only faintly hear him, but her mind refused to listen. "Allen watch out!" Lenalee called out when a few of the sharp points of paper came flying down at the speed of a bullet.


	4. Date Night (Averting Disaster?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lavi and Kanda continue their sort-of-date and Angelique begins to discover her powers. (sorry if it's sorta short i'm kinda sick atm)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok i realized that this chapter is sorta hard to read, so from now on i'll separate out the parts rather than switching all the time. bear with me for this chapter. i'll fix it on the next one. <3

Lavi blushed, having not realized that he'd been so obvious with his incredulous actions. "sorry..." he muttered softly as he followed him into the building. He looked around. Well it certainly read 'Kanda' to him. As many people as they had passed, Lavi's attention had been focused on Kanda thus far; him remaining true to his word. "This place is nice." he commented softly. 

In a flash Allen had activated his Innocence and deflected the projectiles. He sighed. "please don't tell me i have to get rough.." he muttered for a moment before realizing that's exactly what he had to do. He whacked her, well... slapped her pretty much across the face, trying to wake her up. "Angelique!"

He thought over his words for a moment before nodding in response to the red head. "Thanks." he muttered before he walked over to a table to settle himself down. "Oh Master Kanda, it's good to see you back." a young waitress smiled as she came over. "Would you like coffee as usual?" she got a simple nod in response. "What about you?" her voice was a bit high and kind as she looked to Lavi for an order.

She blinked hard for a second and the dazed look seemed to fade away just as the papers uncurled and fluttered to the floor harmlessly. She looked around for a moment confused until she felt the sting on her face. "What the hell'd you hit me for?!"

Lavi looked at her for a moment, then back to Kanda. "He can order for me." he said quietly, for once not feeling up to being ... well... himself. He shifted and just watched Kanda. The way he sat, the depth of his eyes, whether trained on him or not... he bit his lip and looked down, feeling a soft flutter in his chest. It was confusing... 

Allen sputtered in confusion for a second, deactivating his weapon and looking to Lenalee helplessly before finally gazing back to Angelique and retorting with; "Gee, i dunno, i didn't feel like getting killed?!"

Kanda raised a hand for a moment and beckoned the waitress closer and spoke something into her ear. 

She blinked and gave a nod. "I'll be right back with your drinks." she smiled, turning and heading off for a moment. 

Kanda rested his chin on his hand, gazing to the side as if nothing had happened.

Lenalee was confused as she walked over. "Do you not remember what happened?" "Hm-mm..." the blonde shook her head a little bit. 

"...I didn't really hear much except the ringing in my ears..." Angelique muttered softly and Komui sighed relieved that the paper darts had gone away harmlessly. 

"This could complicate matters slightly. It shows she hasn't mastered her Innocence or rather...hasn't come to terms with it yet. A Psi conic version if not fully connected can cause black outs or amnesia whenever it happens. You can't really place blame on her Allen." Komui said. 

Lavi tilted his head a bit in curiosity, but let it go. "So.. uh... anything else you want to know? or uh... tell me?" he was attempting to have this _not_ be awkward, fantastic start. 

He sighed. "Listen, I'm nervous as hell here, I know you probably think this is just a passing fancy, but considering i needed something to give me the guts to even ask you out, i'd say this is different... I've done nothing but think about you for the past month... I have been feeling strange whenever i'm around you for at least four months... I'm going nuts here... I usually like women but for some goddamn reason you've gotten into my head and i can't seem to get you out of it." Lavi blushed crimson, not quite certain where the hell that outburst had come from. He looked at his hands.

Allen sighed. "I'm not blaming anyone i just don't like getting screamed-" he shot a LOOK at Komui. "-or SHOT at." He looked at her. "Sorry i snapped... Guess I'm a bit tense." he admitted. "so she's not fully activated.. i could have told you that." he said to Komui. 

"Well surprise surprise it seems you're gay. Or bisexual." Kanda spoke meaning the last sentence at a pure deadpan. "Listen, Lavi, I fully admit to the fact that this is something I'm not used to. Of course, it's because of my scary, serious looks." he sighed and faced Lavi this time, no looking away, he was staring straight at him, looking into his eye.

Angelique bit her lip as she looked down gripping her fists in front of her. _I'm sorry..._ she thought, biting harder. _I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..._ it was all that could be going through her head, it was like someone was clutching her heart and made it hard to breathe. _I just disappoint people._ then she let out a soft breath. 

"Most hosts learn to control theirs while under pressure. Just give her some time and we'll try again." Komui tried his best to sound supportive. 

"For once he has a point, based on our experiences, any others who acomodate Innocence have come to terms by ways of pressure or admitting something to themselves." Lenalee spoke up as she smiled at Allen sweetly.

Lavi froze when he glanced up and found Kanda looking at him dead on. Their gazes locked and his breath caught in his throat. "-a-and?" he managed to choke out eventually after a good thirty seconds of silence. He sensed there was more the blunet had to say, and wouldn't push it out of him. Pushing Kanda rarely worked. If anything it made him more bullheaded or you ended up dead. 

Allen held up his hands in surrender. "I'm not mad... they're right. You just haven't gotten the right trigger to wake up your Innocence yet." he said, trying to soothe her. "you're not disapointing anyone, if anything that was quite promising. I think you actually bruised me. Believe it or not that's a good thing." he rubbed his arm a bit. 

"I think I want to know is, why me?" Asked Kanda. "Considering you know just how unapproachable I can be." he breathed out after the silence. "You sure you've not hit your head on anything during your last mission?" it was a basic question, but it still made him sound like an asshole. Sighing he took a moment to rest his hand over his mouth and think for a moment. "Didn't mean it like that, but the first question was what I really want o know."

Angelique looked up at him from her shadowed eyes and bit the corner of her lip a little harder, a small bead of blood dripped down. "He said the same thing too..." she managed out. "...Revered Coultis...when I had an episode...and things would...break...he would tell me it was a good thing...I'd learn to control it...." her voice choked up slightly. "...14...damn years later and I still don't know how..."

Lavi opened his mouth, shut it, then opened it again, then shut it again. _is Kanda stumbling? is he self-conscious? is this happening?!_ he thought. He opened his mouth again. this time words came out and he wasn't left gaping like a fish out of water. "I honestly have no idea." he said honestly. "It just.... is." he felt stupid saying it that way. "I don't know why you... I just know it is you." 

"The hairpin..." Allen said softly. "I saw it spark when you went vacant... maybe that's a trigger..." he trailed off. "Trust us, if anyone around here can help you learn to activate and control stuff... it's the people around here." he glared at Kumoi /be helpful you jackass/ he thought at him. 

Kanda snorted slightly then looked away. Was that some form of a laugh or was it just him sneezing? 

Soon the waitress came over and set down a cup of coffee in front of Kanda and a glass filled with a fizzy drink for Lavi. "Your special order will be right out in another few minutes, the back is still working on it."

"Let's see..." Komui went over and then examined the hairpin curiously. "Interesting craftsmanship..." he frowned a little. "There's something a bit off about the center..." he muttered more to himself as he eyed the jeweled rose pin that was resting in her hair. "Tell me Angelique what did you know about the Reverend, the one that took care of you?" 

"I know that he delivered Sermons on alternate Sundays..." she muttered. "On his off time between prayer sessions he did a lot of geneology work...it's where he learned about cross breeding flowers." she blinked and chuckled with a small smile. "It was always a mystery to me how plants could become different colors, or different types by cross breeding." then she looked down. "I owe a lot of my knowledge to him and the mass amount of books he carried." she trailed off again and closed her eyes, remembering things. 

"I...knew I always felt like I disappointed him whenever something went wrong...I wanted to be...someone who would be able to make a difference..and he always said I could be...as long as I put my mind to it." that last bit of phrasing 'mind to it' seemed to echo in her and she blinked several times. "I was...scared of myself...scared I was going to hurt someone..." she reached over a little to touch Allen's bruised arm carefully. "...And I was right. I can hurt someone." small tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. "Like I hurt him too...more times than I could remember." 

Komui blinked. "Well that was certainly an odd tangent..." 

"Shh." Lenalee hissed to her brother.

Lavi glanced to the drink. "eh?" He blinked at Kanda, then at the waitress. He then snagged his drink and held it up, looking at it. he shrugged and sipped it. A few bubbles popped up his nose and he stifled a sneeze, not wanting to drop the drink. He smiled. "nice choice." he commented idly. "what's the 'special order'? he asked curiously, looking at Kanda. 

Allen shifted and let her ramble. Perhaps a break was needed. maybe she needed to relive things. "I'm a fast healer." he assured her. "you're not horrible... We all have scars in our past. It's those scars that make us stand up and be strong." His voice was quiet. 

Kanda looked at him. "It wouldn't be special if I let slip now would it. Simple as that." he shrugged slightly, though there was something behind his hand, a very faint quirk. Was he smirking?! Oh the Earth was probably going to freeze over if it was true, but it was hard to tell now that he was hiding it.

Angelique took a few breaths and moved back a little bit. "I'm scared of myself." she fully admitted. "And what I really desired was someone who could understand...and I believe I have. From here on, I'm going to put my mind to it...and be that person my guardian wanted me to be...a protector." 

It felt good to get all the weight off, the bottled up sadness, anger, frustration, fear, and even depression was perfectly released now that she had someone to release it to. The hairpin wiggled slightly, tugging at her bangs before the jeweled part shattered into smaller pixels, reshaping itself around her vision like a visor, the slightly see through black material settling like glasses on the bridge of her nose.

Lavi wasn't going to lie. he was blatantly staring now. _what the hell?_ he caught himself and looked down, sipping at his drink again. "y-yeah... i suppose." he said quietly. This was... turning out completely differently than he'd expected. He was definitely seeing a side to Kanda that was rarely shown. 

Allen nodded, watching. Without a word he activated his Innocence. "Then let here be a training ground." He said calmly, unable to hide the glee in his tone that they were about to pretty much destroy Komui's office. He stood opposite Angelique. "Lesson one... Offense." he said quietly.


	5. Inner Sanctum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lavi's date with Kanda seems to be going well, to his utter astonishment, and Angelique manages to hold her own against Allen, to Komui's dismay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> starting now, I'll be posting a new chapter of this once a month. <3
> 
> also, I'll be splitting the chapters up properly so there's not so much jumping around and it's easier to follow.

Kanda took another drink of coffee and the waitress soon brought something that was sitting on a tall glass, chunks of what looked like cake topped with ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate curls. "Kanda ordered this for you. It's a coffee chocolate trifle. I hope you enjoy it." she smiled at Lavi, backing away after leaving some silverware for him to use.

Lavi stared at the extravagant dessert. It looked delicious. "I uh... thanks... uh... there's no... possible way i could eat this entire thing myself..." he stammered, blushing. He looked from the food to Kanda and back again. He shoved a spoon at the bluenet. "h-ere... we can share?" he hoped to god that was the plan in the first place.

Kanda rose an eyebrow. "Well there's a reason it's flavored with coffee." he wasn't a huge fan of sweet things, he reached over and picked up the spoon, deciding to humor Lavi for a moment and spooning some of the dark rich cake that sat on the bottom and took a bite from it. "Just make sure you have most of it." he spoke to him.

He grabbed a spoon and took a bite. it was exquisite. He was marveling at Kanda. He wasn't sure how he should be acting, or reacting, to the other's actions. "... thank you." he said after a while. He didn't have to say that Kanda's kindness was unnecessary, they both knew it. He also knew that Kanda had a reason for most anything he did. Pointing it out would simply be calling attention to it and ruining the sweet gesture that it was. 

Kanda blinked for a moment then breathed out in a level breath. "Something seems to be on your mind." he brought up looking at Lavi directly again. "You know I'm not the most approachable, but that doesn't stop people from venting or asking questions." it was one of those firm statements. Kanda could sound harsh, but he at least had a decent heart in him.

Lavi blinked and seemed to falter for a moment. "Yeah... I guess you could say... I'm trying to figure out how to do this without pissin ya off." he admitted. "I mean... I'm seeing a side of you that i didn't know existed... guess I'm trying to figure out the proper way to react without offending you." he sighed. "I'm paranoid, Yu. I really ... like seriously... like you... and i don't' want to do anything to screw with it." he sighed. "because let's face it... any time i try to show someone i like them, it blows up in my face... sometimes literally." 

The samurai like exorcist looked at him again then brought his spoon over, getting a fair amount of ice cream and cake, scooping up a small amount of cream to go with it before taking a bite, thinking it over. "True." he replied bluntly to the other's last statement. The times he'd seen Lavi try to get someone would go horribly wrong. "Wasn't there an odd time you fell for a demon?" he asked. "By...accident of course."

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. ".....yeah." he said after a few moments, having the decency to blush, a tad bit ashamed of that instance. "So you see why I'm so damn skittish... i know its hardly like me but when i actually give a damn about someone i get really shy..." he shook his head. "Please... I really don't want to strike out with you... I don't know why but it's really important this time." He looked at Kanda with a rather puppy-dog-is look on his face. 

"By god why the face..." Kanda gave a slightly audible groan, but he didn't seem to be very annoyed. "Look, if you want my opinion, it was very nice of you to invite me out here, and allowing me to take control of the situation." he took a breath. "I'll admit though that it's new to me." he mumbled softly under his breath.

Lavi was incredulous. it seemed Kanda was as perplexed as he was about the situation. He decided to take a chance. Abandoning the spoon he reached across the table and gently took Kanda's hand in his. "You're nervous." It wasn't a question. "Kanda... I... I really appreciate you allowing this to happen... But... I'm curious... How do you feel about me?" 

Kanda sighed softly through his nose, contemplating what to say before he looked at Lavi again. "I would be lying if I told you I knew the straight answer." he shrugged a little bit, but his body didn't make him pull his hand away yet.

Lavi blinked. "Kanda... do you want to go somewhere more private and talk?" he asked him quietly. He desperately wanted to get him alone... if he was showing this side of him at the coffee shop, maybe there'd be more if they were completely alone. 

With a sigh he waved the waitress over and asked for the bill. "I prefer privacy." he spoke even though it was probably common knowledge to know Kanda did indeed prefer his privacy over public. Which is half the reason why he had walked out of the cafeteria earlier, the public space with the stares as if waiting for his answer were not exactly comfortable. The waitress came over with a check and surprisingly the trifle was a tad expensive, but Kanda reached into his jacket pocket, removing some bills plus tip to set in the tray. Once they were checked out,he nodded at Lavi. "Let's go."

Kanda had paid the bill before Lavi had a chance to protest. He got up and shook his head. "... you know i was planning on paying for that." he muttered as they left the coffee shop. After all, he'd been the instigator of this little outing. He shrugged it off and they made their way back to the Dark Order. He followed Kanda to his room. He then paused, waiting for an invitation. Perhaps Kanda would like to be alone for a bit first... Despite his desire to be with him, he didn't want to push or anything. 

Kanda shrugged it off. "I was the one who chose the place." was his reasoning behind the paying. He had never let anyone into his room, he stood outside of it, pondering for a moment then he reached over and pushed it open, gesturing him to come inside. "Don't tell anyone about this." he meant by the whole letting someone into his room ideal.

Lavi walked into Kanda's room, nodding that he'd keep his mouth shut about it. He stood by the door, not exactly knowing what the hell to do now. He hadn't thought he'd get a date out of Kanda, much less end up in his bedroom. He glanced around. It was definitely Kanda's room. It was rustic and mildly made up sort of like the coffee shop they'd just left. He glanced to him. 

"You gonna stand there all day?" he questioned as he put his black jacket over a desk chair then sighed settling onto the bed which was settled by the wall, he glanced at Lavi. "It's odd for you to be so nervous, considering you're running your mouth constantly." even he kind of gave an inward twitch that the words sounded harsh even from his own mouth.

me Lavi jumped a bit and blushed. "I uh..." he went to sit beside Kanda. "I uh...wasn't sure where i should sit...." He wasn't offended. He knew Kanda had bite when he'd met him, much less started falling for him. He was nervous as hell and bit his lip, his hands twisting and fidgeting. "Like i said, I'm nervous because i actually really don't want to fuck this up..." he muttered. 

"You should be a bit more confident, it's not like I'm going to turn into a demon." he muttered, thinking that's the reason Lavi believed he was screwing up or something. "I don't always slap, punch, strangle, or cut people when they piss me off you know that." he picked at some of his straight cut blue bangs for a moment, he seemed to go into a thinking phase.

Lavi sighed. "If you want to know why I'm so damn nervous, Yu, it's because I'm fucking In love with you and if this doesn't go well i'm not gonna know what the hell to do with myself because my heart will fucking break!" he said, suddenly finding himself standing up facing Kanda. "I want so bad to kiss you but I'm terrified I'll be pushed away. I'm sick of being rejected and you're the one person who if you rejected me it'd ruin me." there were tears in his voice. "So forgive me if I'm fidgety, forgive me if i'm nervous... Kanda help me!" 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"H-H-Hold on there one moment Allen Walker!" Komui spoke with protest. "You can't use my office as a battleground, I won't allow it!" 

"You did turn outside into a battleground almost, again." Lenalee pointed out and reached over to tap Allen's shoulder. "Try not to destroy it too much. Bookman will be mad if we destroy some of these volumes." she went over to restrain her older brother. 

Angelique stared Allen down, fingers twitching, feeling nervous.

Allen took up a guard stance. "Then protect those volumes." he said calmly. "I can promise nothing with psionic training." He motioned to Angelique. "come on. Attack me." he told her. 

She sighed and tried to take a few calming breaths. there was a soft beeping she could hear and the vision in front of her was a very soft shade of green. Then she reached out and she tried what she did as she zoned out, the papers on the floor rose up and twisted, converting into spikes, launching them at Allen with a wave of her hand.

Allen deflected and took stance again. "make them sturdier. focus." he called out. "you can do more damage than that." 

Angelique gazed around slightly, there was a faint blinking at the corner of her eye with soft beeping. It was something like checking her mental state, which was at the moment in the calm state. That was when she noticed this large pile of books sitting on the floor and not on the shelves. Inwardly she prayed to forgive herself as she picked up the books with the proper focus, the pile of books, if she thought about it, could pile together to make a heavy hard covered hammer. Slowly the books started to conform,stacking, piling until it was where she desired and she brought it down hard at the silverette egging her on.

Allen blinked and instead of deflecting the strong attack, dove to the side. The 'hammer' slammed into the floor where he'd been standing, leaving a sizeable hole. "holy crap." he muttered. "Alright then..." he shifted his weapon and it turned into a gun. "time to try defense." He aimed it at her. "Guard." he ordered. 

Her eyes widened when she saw the gun and the beeping increased in her ear like measuring her heart rate. The fight or flight started to kick in, but she had barely a spot to go that wasn't lined with all the books. It wasn't until the gun had begun to fire and she let out that squeak of sheer terror, hands out in front of her until the room filled with smoke build up as the ammo struck down.

Allen was perched on a book case. He'd barely dodged the flood of books that had come at him even in her trying to block his attack. He was panting. He was about to declare that she was ready to test when an incredulous voice shouted from the doorway.

"What the HELL is going on in here?!" There stood Reever, holding a small stack of papers and looking at the dissaray; with Lenalee protecting a certain area of the room and Komui hiding, ok cowering, under his desk. 

Komui took that moment to look up from under his desk. "Oh Reever! How pleasant to see you!" he spoke with a gleeful tone before he pointed at Allen. "It seems Allen wanted to test out our new soon to be exorcist and destroyed my office in the process!" he squinted slightly as the cloud vanished and rose an eyebrow, there was a faint wobbling shimmer in the air and it seemed none of the books where Angelique was still standing there, shaking in a defensive state, unharmed, and the books were perfectly untouched. 

"She's got a good defensive wall." Lenalee spoke up as she moved away from the section she had been guarding. "Sorry about the mess Reever."

Allen jumped down and deactivated his Innocence, standing there rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry Reever. but Komui, good news, i think she's ready to be tested." he said to the cowering scientist. 

Reever sighed. "Well, at least it wasn't another infernal robot." he said after a few moments. 

"Bite your tongue Reever!" Komui exclaimed instantly becoming hot under the collar about the insult to his precious babies. "I'll have you know my robots are of the highest quality and functionality!" he snapped. 

His sister sighed, rolling her eyes before walking over to the other girl who had fallen onto her backside, breathing heavily with an evidently racing heart from the shock. The visor over her eyes had pixilated and formed back to rest on her hair pin as if nothing happened.

Reever sighed and set the papers down on what was left of Kumoi's desk and pinched the bridge of his nose. "whatever you say, Supervisor." he muttered. "well if you're going to test her, better do it soon. We've got to clean this mess up so Komui can get to his paperwork." 

"Oh of course, of course!" Komui spoke and looked at the other two. "Allen, Lenalee, are you going to come along as well?" he asked as the blonde picked herself up from the floor, dusting off her pants while the Supervisor was already heading to the door, gesturing her to follow. 

Allen nodded "yeah." he said as he followed the two of them, glancing to Lenalee and Reever. "Sorry about the mess." he said again. "I just couldn't resist." Reever rolled his eyes. He could hardly blame Allen for wanting to destroy Komui's property, considering what the Supervisor had done to him since day one. 

Lenalee gave a smile and waved to Allen, since she went to the last official testing, she decided to stay back and help Reever clean the area a little bit, though there wasn't much she could do about the destroyed desk and property. 

Angelique sighed as she followed behind Komui. "Where exactly are we going?" she asked trying to keep in step with the Supervisor's fast pace. 

"You'll see." he chimed, waving a finger at her. "It will spoil any type of surprises." 

"There's more...?" Angelique groaned leaning her head back. "I thought the gate and nearly killed by a robot was enough."

Allen chuckled. "Don't worry, nothing untoward will happen to you as long as I'm here. I'll make sure Komui behaves." he flexed his left hand and stared at the scientist. "But you have to get tested. We all did." he explained. "The test will end with either you becoming an official Exorcist or being placed as someone else here at the Order." he explained. 

Reever shook his head and started to go through the books that were strewn everywhere. He picked up Komui's special cup that was ... surprise surprise... under the Supervisor's desk. "gee, he saves his cup but lets you protect the important books..." he said to Lenalee with a derisive snort. 

"Someone else...?" she asked and looked a bit nervous. Was it going to be possible she wouldn't be strong enough to be an exorcist? 

"Well we haven't had many, but perhaps you can be settled in under a finder, who helps exorcists during their missions." Komui stated rather brightly, "Don't look so concerned, I'm sure that you'll be fine." he pat her shoulder and went to what looked like an elevator that would take them down to the bottom of where they needed to go. 

Angelique sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck absently, letting her mind wander again.

"Well...I did give it to him as a present." Lenalee shrugged as she picked up the stack of books that had formed up the makeshift hammer from earlier. "You know him, anything I give to him is the most precious thing in the world, he'd be heartbroken if it were destroyed."

Allen smiled at her and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm sure everything will be fine." He said. He stood back away from her though as they reached the bottom. "Just trust us." In this instance he included Komui in his statement. 

Reever sighed. "So if you were to give me to him wrapped in a bow would he care about me too?" he muttered under his breath. He was only half-joking. 

Komui looked pleased that Allen included him in the sentiment. Then they walked into a large room and the blonde was peering around. 

The room was empty or at least she thought it was until she let out a noise short of a shrill squeak when she saw what looked like crossed between a serpent and human...the body was serpent like but the thing had a face...sort of, she could see what looked like a woman's lips. 

The sight made her want to turn tail and run. "You wouldn't be the first one surprised by Hevlaska." 

"H-Hevlaska...?" Angelique bit her tongue on wanting to say 'that thing has a name'? which she didn't.

Lenalee giggled softly as she straightened the books to a pile. "Well that depends on how you would treat my brother if I gave you to him." she shrugged. 

Allen smiled and pushed Angelique forward. "don't be afraid. Gods know i was, but she's really nice." he said encouragingly. 

"probably no different than usual unless we were alone." Reever retorted. "gotta separate business from pleasure, after all." he figured Lenalee wouldn't appreciate hearing about the things he wanted to do to her brother in private.


	6. Kanda's Question, Ange's Test and Reever's 'Secret'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> story progression. :p
> 
> I suck at summaries.

Kanda stared, listening as the red head vented his rage, and insecurities right at him. Although the words "help me" seemed to penetrate the deepest corners of his mind where his conscience was siting at least the more caring part of it. Well, that was sappy and dramatic. 

He said nothing but grabbed Lavi by his shirt collar, no hesitation, typical him, though with the exception being his mouth found Lavi's...and not by mistake.

Lavi watched in almost slow motion, somehow almost seeing this as an out of body event as Kanda's hand reached out and yanked him close, kissing him to shut him up. He froze, a soft squeak of surprise escaping him and a million things ran through his mind. 

He sorta melted into it and fell forward, accidentally pinning Kanda to the bed as his forearms landed on either side of his head, deepening the kiss unintentionally. He half-expected Kanda to push him off and swear at him for it, but he hoped that Kanda MIGHT just choose to roll with it. 

For the moment he let his arms be pinned to the bed, indeed starting to roll with it even though he had stiffened slightly, but more from the shock that Lavi had done something rather bold. At least in his mind, for now he didn't pull away, throw him off, or swear at the moment.

Lavi felt him stiffen a little, but he didn't shove him away. That was promising. He shifted a bit, so he wasn't pinning him like that anymore, giving him the option to shove him off or roll on top of him or whatever he wanted to do. He closed his eyes, the kiss was sweet; and he was savoring every socond of it. Kanda smelled wonderful... Lavi wanted more, but woulnd't push his luck. 

The smell was almost like something infused with Lotus blossom, again, something that was completely him. Then slowly the samurai pulled back for the moment to catch his breath, his cheeks reached a high touch of a red color to them. He was blushing!

Lavi gazed down at him, catching his breath. He was shocked that it'd happened at all, and now, realizing he was laying on top of Kanda, he rolled to the side, staring at the celing and marvelling at how amazing that'd been. He wouldn't call attention to Kanda's blush out of kindness and well, not wanting to be thrown out of his room. "...wow." he said breathlessly after a moment. He wanted to kiss him again, but decided to let the other recover before he even tried. 

He sighed and lightly rubbed his lips with the back of his hand, it was a light motion and not one of disgust as he looked at the ceiling. "Apologies..." he muttered softly. "I have no idea what came over me." though that was a total lie verbally, he knew what was really going on the inside, but he had a hard time admitting it.

Lavi shifted to lean on his elbow, looking at Kanda. "Yu..." he said softly, his voice a bare whisper, his eyes bright. He knew Kanda was lying through his teeth. There had been serious raw passion behind that kiss. He moved and pulled the other so their faces were almost touching. He locked eyes with him, he could see the desire in Kanda's eyes, and the ... fear? Uncertainty? 

whatever it was, Lavi wanted to banish it from the other's mind. ".... I think we both know what came over you..." he whispered softly, their lips almost touching. He kissed him, long, lingering and sweet. It was chaste, but easily could be turned into something more passionate if Kanda so desired.

He sighed softly as he looked at Lavi as their lips pressed together again and he pulled back. "There's a lot I prefer to discuss in private." he admitted before sitting up. "Have you ever wondered why I reluctantly allow you to call me Yu?" he asked him with a proposed question.

 

\-----------------------------------------

Angelique blinked when she got pushed and carefully righted herself as she nearly tripped over her own footing. Taking a breath she tried to be brave, believing that something would shatter without her control if she ended up panicking. 

What was even more so, she tried to not scream in surprise when she felt her body leave the ground to be brought up further to Hevlaska's "eye?" level. 

Komui crossed his arms slightly and glanced to Allen. "Surprised she's not screaming, you panicked and your Innocence activated and fractured. Crowly panicked too."

Allen shrugged. "She's strong... she doesn't think she is... but she is." he said softly, watching the scene. He expected her synch level to be pretty high as untested as it was. 

Closed lids twitched at the weird feeling of the tendrils even though they were gentle, the probing felt as if there were needles driving through her mind. Before she knew it she was set down onto the platform and her legs wobbled she collapsed slightly, glad to be on solid ground again. "Psyconic Innocence is a powerful one." the entity spoke with a calm tone. "So long as the mind is stable, the Innocence will be as well. Be warned, focus is key. Allowing fear and anger take over can cause a backlash in the power, harming more than just yourself, but others around you." Hevlaska was speaking to not just her, but all three of them. Angelique looked up a little bit, shoulders to her fingers shaking.

"79 percent..." muttered Allen. He nodded to Hevlaska. "I'll do my best to help her learn to control it." He shot a mischevious look to Kumoi he smirked and held a hand out to steady Angelique. 

Angelique reached over and took his hand, standing up carefully though her legs felt like jelly. "For now, she's not fully synchronized, but she does have the potential to be an Exorcist. As her power grows, there will be more than simple telekinesis. Can you handle that responsibility Allen Walker?"

Allen nodded. "Yeah. I think so." he said with a smile. "By the way, Hevlaska? " he asked her silently. He knew she could hear his thoughts if directed at her. 

Hevlaska looked at Allen for a moment then nodded. "Komui." she spoke and the Supervisor blinked in confusion to look at her. "By my order, take time off for a vacation. And take Reever with you." "Huh? But..." Komui looked at Allen for a long moment. "Alright." he agreed reluctantly. "Thank you for your audience." he bowed politely and looked at the other two. "I assume you're both tired. Would you like to turn in?"

Allen smiled and bowed to the entitiy as the elevator shifted and moved up. "I'll walk her to her room." he said, looking to Angelique. He wanted to talk to her. 

Komui nodded and waved goodbye to the two as they left. The Supervisor took off back to his office before Reever would get too mad. He opened the door and Lenalee nodded. "Oh, Komui." she smiled. "You're back." 

\------------------------------------------

"Listen, I don't want to hear what you do to him behind closed doors, but maybe you should try to convince him to adjust what's going on at the Front Gate. This isn't the first time it's panicked over someone who doesn't have a shred of akuma about them." She told him with a small huff and patted off her hands then looked to the floor. "Nasty dent..." 

Reever chuckled at her comment and went to examine the hole in the floor. "yeah we're gonna have to replace the flooring there..." he said calmly. "and we've been trying to fix that damn guard for ages now." he sighed. 

"You should try to get him to focus on something other than robots. We don't want new exorcists getting frightened away over a glitch." Lenalee suggested. "I hope you can help him get his priorities straight?"

Reever eyed her. "I do try." he said calmly. "Thing is, he thinks i'm just an employee. I haven't quite figured out how to tell him i like him yet." he admitted. 

"I think he needs time away from his lab...and away from me." she fully admitted. "I love him, but I think he's worried about me so much he doesn't pay much attention to the rest of the world around him."

"I think you're right, Lenalee." he agreed with a nod. "though short of a direct order he probably woulnd't go." he sighed and shook his head. 

Lenalee stretched and smiled reassuringly at Reever. "Maybe you never know, someone could put in a good word for you. There is someone else who can handle mission deployment for a day or two right?"

Reever nodded "yeah, there's always backups for the backups for the backups around here. never know what's gonna happen when." he said with a shrug. 

Along the opposite hallway, Angelique sighed as she rubbed her forehead lightly. "Hm..."


	7. Talks and Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> stuff happens. ya'll know i suck at summaries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare for a huge chapter next month. lol

Lavi lay back and looked at the ceiling. It seemed Kanda wanted to talk for a bit. Fine by him. "because i refuse to stop and you can't get away with killing me?" he asked after a moment of silence. "joking aside, yes i have." he admitted, sighing. He knew it would be a miracle if they got past talking and the occasional kiss that night. But at least he hadn't been thrown out yet... that was a good start... right? 

"Anyone else who calls me that usually gets sliced or choked." he shrugged. "Not you, because despite how annoying and frustrating you can be at times you're rather...er..." he trailed off for a moment trying to figure out the best thing to say. "...Pretty good..." okay those weren't the ones he was looking for but he wasn't sure which was the right one.

"I'm well aware." Lavi said softly at the first comment. ".... If you can't find the words to say what you want to say, Yu..." he said softly, feeling a flush rise in his cheeks as he realized Kanda was stumbling over his words. "... then just show me what you feel." his heart was fluttering nervously in his chest. To have Kanda of all people stammering and unable to speak was amazing, the fact that it was directed at him was mind-shattering. 

Ink Kanda looked away for a moment cause damn it all he was stammering so much. Then he took in a deep breath, reaching over and this time pulled Lavi in for a kiss that was sincere, trying to tell the feelings through actions rather than words which at the moment seemed to be failing him.

He reached out and pulled Kanda close to him, his eyes closing as he met the kiss with the same sincerity and passion that the other was giving him. His grip was firm and reassuring, but not too tight. He sensed that the bluenet had had feelings for him this entire time and had been just as shy to speak of them as he was. 

He lightly rest a hand on his cheek for a moment then sighed as he pulled away, looking down a little. "Is that proof enough for you?" he questioned though his voice was steadily weaker by the fact he was showing such lighthearted emotions. It made him a bit frustrated.

He looked at him. "Yu..." he tugged him back down to him. "... you have nothing to prove to me." his tone was quiet. He thought hard before speaking again. "... you're frustrated... in many ways... take it out on me." He bit his lip. "We're both confused and frustrated... and dare i say a bit scared. So.. why don't we face it together?" He was blushing now. 

Reaching up a little he rest his head back, resting the palm of his hand against Lavi's head. Ruffling it only gently as he looked up to the ceiling for a long moment then closed his eyes. "Frustration comes from the fact I feel and believe I can't express myself around you. However, if you're willing to put up with me...we could try together...on some terms." 

\-----------------------

Reever glanced over and smiled. "well, how'd it go?" he asked immediately. "Is she an Exorcist?" If so, Lenalee would have a party to plan. 

"The way it was explained, it sounds like can become a pretty good one. I just wouldn't advise sending her out on solo missions until she can control her telekinetic powers." he rest a hand in his pocket. "We'll have to find a version of the uniform to wear." 

"Komui... there's something you're not saying." said Reever, knowing well enough when the other was dancing around something unsaid. He glanced to Lenalee. "can i speak to the Supervisor in private, please?" he requested with a subtle wink to her.

"Sure." Lenalee nodded. "I'll go find a uniform for Angelique. Nothing like a woman's taste to dress another." she waved and walked out, shutting the door behind her. "Ah..." Komui looked to when Lenalee had left and sighed. "If this is about the robot, I'm still trying to fix it up." 

Reever shook his head, bending to pick up a few tomes off the floor. "not at all." he said calmly, dusting the book covers off and setting them on an undamaged shelf. "what did Hevaleska say besides the stuff about Angelique." he said to him flatly, outright telling him he knew she'd orderd Komui to do something. "And there's something I need to tell you, but i want that information first." 

He sighed and picked up the cup for a moment to look at it, trying to figure the best way to say it. "She's given me orders to take a vacation, to bring you with me." he spoke truthfully. 

"well then. I'd say that's a perfect excuse for us to get closer." he said with a smirk. "your sister seems to think you need to get laid... i have to agree with her." 

"Wh-Wh-Whaaaat?!" Komui cried out looking between embarrassed and shocked. "Why on Earth would my darling sister ever think that?! Lenalee is so sweet and innocent! She would never stoop so low as to suggest I get laid!" he pointed an accusing finger at Reever. "Don't you dare put foul words into my sister's mouth!" 

\----------------------

Allen glanced to her as they walked. "you alright?" he asked her curiously. "if you have a headache i can give you something for it." 

"No, I'm okay." she smiled a little. "Just a weird feeling like I'm still being probed..." she muttered and then looked at Allen. "So is there something you wanted to talk about?"

"no i just wanted to chat with you." he admitted. "I mean, i did sorta offer to be your trainer i guess... and well... i think you're pretty." he clapped a hand over his mouth in surprise that he'd blurted that out. 

She blinked and then chuckled behind her hand. "That's a first." she pushed back a loose strand of hair. "No one's called me pretty...or maybe they have but I've been too busy to notice." she muttered and looked away. "Thank you for being my trainer."

"it's no problem. I've got experience with fighting you already, so i'll be able to tell you where and how to improve better than someone who hasn't actually battled you could." he said with a smile. "anyway, here's your room. I'll see you in the morning ok?" he took her hand on impulse and kissed it. "sleep well." he said with a wink as he turned to go to his room. 

She blinked, her face turned a bit pink. "Sure..." she muttered then smiled a bit as she opened the door. "Thanks again Allen..." she sighed before walking into her room and shutting the door, flopping down onto her bed, reaching over to her black cat, stroking his fur slowly. "In all my years, I never thought I could be this..."

Allen smiled and walked to his room, laying on his bed he closed his eyes. 

In Allen's room, Timcampy was resting on his bedside. Slowly a tiny mouth of teeth opened up and he began to play through the recordings of the day.


	8. Things get interesting...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so i as i was writing this chapter it got longer than i usually do before i realized it... sooo bonus!

"name them." Lavi said without hesitation. He was growing a bit more comfortable and less nervous that he'd be thrown out, but his heart was still racing madly. Everyone simply thought that Kanda 'put up' with everyone rather than they putting up with him... he was an enigma that Lavi hoped to crack, and he felt priveleged to even have gotten this far. 

Kanda looked at him. "The simplest one is no displaying anything to the public about this...not until I'm personally ready. Privacy. Secondly; If I act cold towards you in open space do not take offense. Simple enough?" he asked Lavi. 

Lavi glanced at him. "nothing will get to them from me, Kanda." he said softly. "but i guarantee we'll be asked since i sort of plopped it on you in public and then we vanished." he pointed out. "but i promise... till you decide to spill the beans, I'll keep quiet about it." It was an easy promise to make. He'd keep it if it killed him, as long as he got to see Kanda like this... and be with him, he'd do anything. 

He smiled a little bit...but only a little and then pet the top of Lavi's head lightly before letting out a soft breath. He began to breathe in and out at a slow, even pace, the calmness of the room combined with Lavi's rather surprising body heat was comfortable, and warm. He had started to doze without taking his ponytail down. 

"... Yu?" he said quietly after a moment. Shit.. what was he supposed to do now? "Kanda.." he reached over and gently shook him. He stopped after a moment and just watched him. He looked so peaceful and vulnerable... God dammit. Lavi shifted and lay beside him. If the bluenet was that tired who was he to stop him... after all... he'd at least gotten a kiss on the first date. Hell, he'd gotten a first date... and he felt like it wasn't the last... which was way more than he was hoping for. His eyes closed as he watched the other sleep and soon he was out too, a hand gently resting across Kanda's chest. 

\-----------------------------

Reever let the Supervisor throw his tantrum and sighed. "Komui... shut up." he finally said as he reached out and pulled the other to him, silencing him by kissing him. "regardless what Lenalee actually said, she did notice that i happen to be harboring feelings for your psychotic ass and commented that i should act on them. So i am. Now calm down. Or are you planning on going against a direct order of the council?" 

He paused and turned several shades of red over and sighed dipping his head slightly. "Of course I won't disobey a direct order. But who's going to handle giving out assignments while I'm on vacation?" he seemed to pout, but that was traditional Komui.

Reever sighed. "they'll be fine." he said firmly, propelling Komui to the door. "now go pack up and meet me near the elevator." he ordered. "technically I outrank you as well so just do it." he went to go do the same and soon was at the elevator checking his watch. 

Komui blinked as he had been pushed to the door and went off to go pack. It didn't take him as much time considering it wasn't like he wore anything flashy. He walked over to Reever by the elevator and nodded. "So...where do you have in mind exactly?"

He shrugged. "out of here, for one." he said calmly. He led the way to the boat and sat in it. "we're going to a spa in town. I've told them to leave us alone until we call for services." he said after they were both in the boat and on the way. 

=====================================================

By the time morning light came Kanda groaned and shifted slightly, he blinked when he felt a heavy weight against his chest. Crap what was that pressure? Then as he looked down he saw the mop of red hair, breathing out softly when he realized it was just Lavi and recalled the events of last night. He sat up carefully and reached back to run his fingers through his hair, stopping when he realized all the knots that were in it. 

Shaking his head he carefully set Lavi down on the bed and went to fix up the knots by undoing the ponytail and brushing it out. 

Lavi stirred and opened his eye, thinking to himself that the events of the night before had to have been a dream, that is till his gaze landed on Kanda brushing out his hair and he realized he was not in his room. "mnh... morning." he managed as he sat up and stretched out a tad. He glanced towards the clock and then realized it was their day off unless an emergency came up.

"Morning." he nodded and sighed a little muttering something about being careless of falling asleep as he had done. Then he paused and breathed out softly and looked back at Lavi. "Did you...sleep alright?" he tried his best to sound a little bit more caring than he would in public. 

Lavi chuckled "yeah..." Oh dammit how he wanted to pounce on him so badly... he'd never really seen Kanda with his hair down... when he wasn't injured that is. He was gorgeous. Lavi couldn't help but stare at him. "so uh... it's a day off..." he managed eventually. He was fighting with his self-control so badly right at that moment it wasn't even funny. 

"Ah, that's right it is." he set the brush down and ran his fingers through his hair absently glad of the results before looking at Lavi. "Was there something you had in mind?" he asked, his tone turned to a rather curious one. He'd gotten at least somewhat comfortable with Lavi being in the same space as him and breathing the same air. 

Lavi was blatantly staring now. "Uh... yeah sorta.." he said, tearing his gaze away and awkwardly scratching at his shoulder blade. "I just ... don't know how you'd exactly uh.. react to me actually straight up telling you what i want right about now." he admitted sheepishly. He was absolutely crimson and trembling a bit. 

Ink He looked back at Lavi this time and walked over to settle back onto the bed. "Well if you straight up told me, I would've sliced you." he admitted bluntly. "But is that something you really want now?" he asked him. "Considering the fact you did just confess to me last night." 

Dodged a bullet again... maybe he wasn't horrible at this relationship shit.... with the proper person... He sighed. "I want you to want it... I want... I want to see more of that intimate side of you... If I'm impatient I'm sorry I've just been holding onto this for so long... pent up for so long.. to finally have you open up to me this much has been amazing... almost miraculous i guess... I shouldn't be demanding more... but my body and my heart want what they want, and my mind wants you to be the one to say you're ready... I'm one big contradiction i suppose." 

\----------------------

Reever shifted and looked next to him. He and Komui had pretty much passed out the moment they'd gotten to their room the night before. He planned on having breakfast brought to them and then well... he didn't really plan on letting Komui out of the room for a few hours at the very least. 

Komui was sleeping peacefully on the bed they were borrowing the Supervisor even if he didn't show it had been worn ragged. It wasn't until the smell of coffee entered his system that made him sit up in bed and look around for the source of the caffeinated goodness.

Without a word Reever thrust Komui's precious cup into his hand and motioned to the food he'd set up on the table in the room. "breakfast?" he asked with a soft smile. He had the only key to the room in his pocket now. 

Komui blinked in surprise as he took a drink of the life giving brew then to the food set out for them. "Sounds great. I wonder how long it's been since the research division members had a proper meal." of course he was meaning the two of them. He moved over to settle down where the food was, appetite strong.

He smiled and sat down. "yeah. We don't' exactly get a lot of great meals very often... we get so hell-bent on a project and then the next thing we know a week has passed." he said as he took a bite of sausage. His eyes were constantly on Komui, a soft hint of a smile on his lips. 

He looked up at him curiously for a moment. "Well that is true." he admitted then he sighed. "I apologize if I have been coming off as...impulsive lately. But the threats have been minimal lately, I suppose I've just been...bored?"

Reever shook his head. "i believe bored is an understatement, Kumoi." he said softly, a chuckle in his voice. He let the other finish his food before getting up and walking over to stand behind him. "I think... Its time for both of us to relax..." he said, planting a soft kiss on Kumoi's neck where it hit his collarbone. "come back and lay with me." he knew that where he'd kissed him would trigger some form of reaction as he walked back to sit on the bed. 

\----------------------

As light came through the window Angelique groaned softly as she covered her eyes, obviously not used to the sun, then blinked when she found grey eyes of her black colored feline staring down at her. "Morning Corporal..." she murmured, sitting up and stretching, she picked up her suitcase and pulled out the food and water dish she pulled from home, setting them down onto the floor, she filled it with a small amount of food along with what remained from a water bottle. 

Once her cat was eating she went to the door and paused when she noticed a package sitting down there, picking it up she unwrapped it to look at the black, white, and silver that was bundled inside and smiled, deciding to give it a try on, shutting the door behind her.

Allen was up with the sun, in the kitchen and after putting away a few dishes into his black hole of a stomach, he was helping Lenalee and the others plan and begin to execute Angelique's welcome party.

Lenalee was happy to see Allen help with the set up. "I dropped off her uniform last night, so don't be surprised if she comes in wearing it." she winked at him and then blinked when she realized something. "Allen, did you find someone to detour her from coming here?!" then paused looking back as someone asked if something on the decoration side looked alright. "Looks great!" she called.

Allen nodded. "Actually i was wondering if you minded if i went and fetched her when everything was ready." he said with a soft smile. "I just don't want her to get lost..."

"Of course not." Lenalee shook her head slightly and went over to check on how Jerry was doing with the food preparations. The place was filled with roses, if Lenalee read right her guardian had a thing for roses and she deemed it appropriate.

After dressing Angelique decided to explore the headquarters, looking around curiously as she wandered down a hallway. "This place is huge..." she muttered and winced at the open space that brought in light. "Really bright too." though she noticed it was rather quiet. "Wonder where everyone is..." 

Allen smiled. "alright, I'll go find her." he said with a chuckle as he left the cafeteria. He started at her room. Finding she was gone he began to wander, hoping she didn't stumble into the party unexpectedly and let him miss it. 

Angelique was sitting on one of the ledges, staring out at the view that went on for a long ways. Leaning back against the pillar she was singing a soft hymn in Latin.

Allen walked up to her slowly, enjoying her song as he approached. He waited till she trailed off and cleared his throat lightly. "Excuse me, Angelique?" he said softly, hoping to not scare the crap out of her.


	9. Surprise and Passion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i suck. lol enjoy.

Kanda shook his head and reached over, touching the back of Lavi's neck lightly, pulling him in for a soft kiss on the lips to try and put his worries at ease. "It's new to me...at least brand new." he muttered to him softly. "I ask you give me a little bit of time..." there was a sincere and slightly soft look in the usually cold samurai's eyes for the moment. A side no one else would see.

He relaxed a bit. "i know..." he said softly. "it's in my nature to be impatient." he shook his head. "I'm doing my best to restrain myself, i swear. I just don't' want to accidentally lose it and have you make me regret it." he sighed. "But hey, it won't kill me... and it'll be all the more worth it in the end when you're ready." he offered a smile. "how about breakfast?" he asked. 

He reached his hand over and ruffled some of the red hair, then he nodded, starting to put his hair back up into a ponytail again. "Breakfast would be great." he agreed. Though he paused and looked outside his door. "It seems eerily quiet today." he muttered softly and looked at Lavi. "Usually on days off it's noisy..." 

"probably a surprise party for the new arrival." he said as he stood up and went to the mirror to run a brush through his own hair. He wasn't' concerned about that, though. He had what he wanted. Kanda's attention. And possibly his heart, he wasn't a hundred percent sure about that one just yet. Time would tell. 

"Let's get something to eat." he muttered and then looked at Lavi. "You barely ate anything except that trifle last night and coffee. It'll be healthier if you had something more...er...valuable in your system." crap why was he worrying over Lavi? The boy could take care of himself couldn't he? After all Lavi was a grown up and could do what he wanted. Was he weak or something? 

Lavi smiled. Kanda was showing concern for him. He was happy about it. It made him feel special. Kanda normally didn't give a shit about anyone else other than himself. He shifted away from the mirror after adjusting his clothing so it looked a little less slept-in and turned to face Kanda. "Yu, your concern just makes me feel like you actually care... so don't be ashamed of it." he said with a smile as he stole a kiss and went to the door. "It doesn't make you weak." he added as if reading the others mind. "... it makes you human." He opened the door and left. "I better go first, i doubt you want us to show up together and be bombarded with questions." It was clear he remembered and understood the conditions of this relationship he was getting into, and he was anything but bitter about it. 

Kanda even took that moment to adjust his own clothing, noticing it had gotten slightly wrinkled up in the process. He straightened things out before walking out the door when Lavi was at a good pace away, closing the door behind him with a soft click and started towards the direction of the cafeteria where the celebration was already taking place. 

\--------

A hot rush of blood went up to Komui's face and shot straight downward like a bullet sending a shiver down his spine. "Damn it Reever..." he muttered and went over to settle down by the other researcher, well...rather it was on top of him.

"hm? what did i do, Kumoi?" he asked innocently about two seconds before the other pounced on him. "... heheh. something the matter?" he teased gently as he was pinned to the bed. 

He reached up and took off his glasses and set them down nearby. "You're the one getting me damn riled up, and I'm assuming it was your idea to tell Allen that I should have a day off." he snorted softly.

Reever blinked. "actually no i didn't... why, was Allen behind this?" he asked calmly. Honestly the boy was perceptive, but he hadn't known quite how perceptive. He smiled up at Komui. "either way, Glad it happened. As for riling you up, it sure didn't take much considering we've never gone on a single date before." he pointed out. "and here you are, pinning me to the bed after a simple kiss on the neck." He smirked. 

"Well can you blame me? Hell, I can't help it. I'm sexually frustrated, I sure as hell can't let it out at work..." he muttered and looked down, blushing slightly. "I don't know why that triggered something but it did...." he seemed to pout a little bit, and slightly embarrassed at his behavior.

Reever smirked. "don't be embarrassed. You have me pinned and i'm not exactly complaining... If you want to ravish me then do it... honestly i've been wanting you to for years." he said calmly, being blunt as a hammer was sometimes the only way to get through to Kumoi. 

The blunt as a hammer blow almost hit him upside the head and boy did his face turn red and he rest his head to the crook of Reeve's shoulder, taking in a few deep breaths. "Well even if I wanted to, I'm not sure where to start first." he admitted.

He chuckled a little and shifted, wresting his hands out of Kumoi's grip and pulling him close to kiss him. "fine then, mister sexually frustrated. If you're not going to let your instincts guide you, I'll start things off." he murmured against his lips as he continued to kiss him, then pulled it in to make it one hell of a passionate one, trying to jump-start him and make him take over. 

Komui sighed softly as he absently tightened his grip on where he pinned Reever, he slowly kissed back with that passion laced deep down inside. He never wanted to admit it, but it seemed the only one of his co workers on the research division was actually Reever...and that made him comfortable with this possible partner.

Reever's eyes closed and he gave up without a fight, letting Kumoi do as he pleased to him, relaxing and enjoying being pinned by him... after all, he'd been after him for a year at the very least. 

\--------

Angelique blinked and looked over at Allen with a smile. "Hey." she greeted as she slid off the wall and to the floor with the soft click of some high heeled black shoes. "I was starting to wonder where everyone was, the halls were empty." though she didn't admit it to herself, she did kind of pose slightly in the outfit to get used to the feeling...or was she appealing to her sense of vanity?

Allen eyed her. "that uniform looks good on you." he commented, having a slight feeling she wanted him to look. "well, a call went out at midnight for some people, so that might explain why the halls are empty. Come on, why don't we go to the cafeteria for some food." he suggested. 

"Heh, sorry...I guess I never thought the outfit could look so good." she muttered looking herself over. "...Maybe I'm a little vain?" she muttered more to herself as she listened to his explanation. "That makes sense, but I'm starving. Let's go eat!" she spoke placing her hands together, the sun seemed to shine a little bit brighter. 

Allen blushed mildly and offered her his arm. "come on before the good food is gone." he said, pretending that was an excuse. He was grinning internally and also well... trying not to stare at her. 

"Heh." she reached over and lightly took his arm with one hand, holding out her other one to the golden golem. "Good morning Tim." she smiled sweetly. It was as if the time in that French town she had once lived was a distant memory as they walked the hall to the cafeteria. 

Allen smiled and proudly walked into the cafeteria where the rest of the staff and a few exorcists (minus Kumoi, Reever, Lavi and Kanda that is), shouted 'welcome home' at her under a banner with her name on it draped across the celing and a huge buffet spread out against the wall. Allen turned to Angelique with a smile on his face. "I had to lie to you so you wouldn't be suspicious... we've been working on your welcome party all morning." he said with a small chuckle. 

She blinked in surprise, forest green eyes widening to the size of dinner plates as she looked around, from the banner, to the cooked meal and the other Exorcists as well as others in brown coats. She blinked several times, moisture forming at the corners. Lenalee smiled. "Allen was very helpful putting it together as well." 

Lavi paused at the doorway, the party in progress would hopefully be a decent distraction to his outburst towards Kanda the evening before and the fact that they'd both vanished after it... but he doubted he could escape Allen's questions... that was until he stepped inside and noticed Allen quite distracted by the new arrival. Thanking god for small miracles, he slipped into the room and along the wall til he reached the food, managing to avoid getting questioned in the confusion and celebratory atmosphere. He briefly wondered about the absence of a certain Supervisor and then went about his business, ignoring Kanda as he walked in and sitting down calmly to eat. 

Allen was indeed distracted, busy blushing madly at the praise. "well.. once they got me to stop eating the buffet i helped i guess." he admitted sheepishly. He smiled at Angelique. "i wanted you to feel welcome... since... you were so nervous about having to leave." 

Kanda glanced at Lavi slightly as he sat down to relax for the time being though his gaze wandered to the new arrival. Though why was something in his chest tightening? Lavi agreed to the conditions, but why should he be feeling this upset? Maybe...he enjoyed the redhead's company too much from last night. 

Angelique looked at Allen for a long moment, rubbing at the corner of her eyes before she threw her arms around him to give him a tight hug. "Thank you..." she muttered softly.

Lenalee felt her eye twitch slightly but she cleared her throat. Not jealous, nope. 

Lavi watched as Allen pretty much spouted steam from his ears as his face turned as red as his own hair. He noticed Lenalee looked a tad huffy as the new girl hugged on Allen and had to stifle a snort. _don't like him my ass._ he thought. He felt eyes on him and stole a glance at Kanda, who seemed a bit distressed. Why? Lavi had followed the terms and conditions... wait... was that... well shit. Kanda missed him? He pretended not to notice and figured if the bluenet wanted him, he could come sit with him. 

Allen flailed a bit and then settled, though his face was red he was happy that Angelique was happy and hugged her back. "no problem." he said, unable to hide the grin on his face; oblivious to the unhappy look on Lenalee's face.


End file.
